Pecos SWW<>Installing Ceramic Bullnose Tile on a Washer and Dryer Catch Basin Perimeter

Installing Ceramic Bullnose Tile on a Washer and Dryer Catch Basin Perimeter

Bullnose Tiles Set on a Catch Basin perimeter

I had problems trying to determine how best to put ceramic tile on the catch basin perimeter. The perimeter was built with brick pavers that were slightly higher than the pavers used for the catch basin floor. I put thin-set on the front and top of the perimeter pavers so the prep work was already done. I just had to figure out what kind of ceramic tile to put on the perimeter so that it would look good and still be strong enough to handle some minimal abuse.

Originally I had planned to cut the 12x12 floor ceramic tiles and put these on the top of the perimeter. I would fudge the exposed front and back ends of the tile by grouting the corner. I decided that this was not professional enough.

I had already decided how to handle the front of the catch basin perimeter. I would cut the 12 inch beige ceramic tiles to fit 90° to the floor. The top of the perimeter was a different story. My first thought was to use the tan bullnose trim that I had purchased at the Habitat for Humanity Habistore. I could lay the bullnose tile back to back on the top edge of the perimeter. The problem with that idea is that I was four 3x13 inch bullnose tiles short and there was no chance of finding any more of them.

The second idea was to use the tan bullnose tile on the outer perimeter and use a quarter round ceramic tile trim on the interior. The picture below shows some pink quarter round trim that I had on hand just to get an idea of what it would look like when installed.

I had purchased some quarter round tile pieces but when I got them home they were darker than I liked. I was also educated by an employee at Home Depot that the quarter round tiles were made out of a softer grade of tile - unsuitable for floor tiles. The 22 quarter round tiles for the ten linear feet I needed were also very expensive at more than $1.50 for each six inch tile. I decided that it was best to continue the tan and beige colors from the wall on the perimeter and I returned the quarter round tiles to Home Depot. I then needed some beige bullnose tiles for the inside of the perimeter top. The next question was whether the bullnose tiles should be cut. I could put the inside beige tiles over the top of the catch basin floor tiles but I wasn't sure that you could put ceramic tile over ceramic tile and have them stay in place. Some research on the Internet suggested that you could do this. There wouldn't be any traffic on the tiles so I decided this was the best solution.

The pictures below run through the steps needed to install the catch basin perimeter.

Click on thumbnail to see a larger image

I used the 3/16" spacers between and below the front ceramic tiles to match the floor. The third tile from the end in this picture was later removed and replaced because it was miscut. The perimeter pavers were covered with multiple layers of mud.

The outer perimeter bullnose tiles in place. The depression originally created for the quarter round ceramic tile trim was filled in with tile-set in preparation for the inner ceramic bullnose tiles. Setting the beige inner perimeter bullnose ceramic tiles. The corner pieces require a simple 45° angle cut. I used small galvanized finish nails as spacers between the tiles. This could be dangerous if you have toddlers that could fall on them. You might want to use dimes or pennies as spacers instead.

Inner perimeter ceramic bullnose tiles set. The 3x12 inch beige inner bullnose tiles angle down slightly due to the difference in height between the perimeter pavers and catch basin floor pavers. Another view of the spacers used for the perimeter bullnose tiles. You can see in this picture that I used the galvanized finish nails as spacers under the front edge of the interior ceramic bullnose tiles. This is important because tile-set is not water resistant. Grout is water resistant and was used to seal the gap between the bullnose tile and the catch basin floor tiles. After drying, the grout was properly sealed with grout sealer.

The floor level view shows a nice straight and level row of ceramic tiles. The existing Nutmeg colored ceramic flooring grout lines were masked in preparation for the grouting of the catch basin perimeter with Sahara Tan grout.

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I used the 3/16" spacers between and below the front ceramic tiles to match the floor. The third tile from the end in this picture was later removed and replaced because it was miscut.	The perimeter pavers were covered with multiple layers of mud.

The outer perimeter bullnose tiles in place. The depression originally created for the quarter round ceramic tile trim was filled in with tile-set in preparation for the inner ceramic bullnose tiles.	Setting the beige inner perimeter bullnose ceramic tiles. The corner pieces require a simple 45° angle cut. I used small galvanized finish nails as spacers between the tiles. This could be dangerous if you have toddlers that could fall on them. You might want to use dimes or pennies as spacers instead.

Inner perimeter ceramic bullnose tiles set. The 3x12 inch beige inner bullnose tiles angle down slightly due to the difference in height between the perimeter pavers and catch basin floor pavers.	Another view of the spacers used for the perimeter bullnose tiles. You can see in this picture that I used the galvanized finish nails as spacers under the front edge of the interior ceramic bullnose tiles. This is important because tile-set is not water resistant. Grout is water resistant and was used to seal the gap between the bullnose tile and the catch basin floor tiles. After drying, the grout was properly sealed with grout sealer.

The floor level view shows a nice straight and level row of ceramic tiles.	The existing Nutmeg colored ceramic flooring grout lines were masked in preparation for the grouting of the catch basin perimeter with Sahara Tan grout.

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